Posted on 03/11/2020 5:34:26 AM PDT by karpov
After years of squeezing ever more workers into tighter office spaces, companies are realizing how efficiently the modern workspace can spread diseases like the coronavirus.
Cubicles and private offices have made way for open floors, where a sneeze or cough can circulate uninterrupted. Companies have removed physical barriers between employees, encouraging them to socialize as much as possible.
Between 2018 and 2019, the average office space per seat in North America declined by 14.3% to 195.6 square feet, according to brokerage firm JLL’s 2020 Occupancy Benchmarking Report.
Many companies also have abolished assigned seating, rotating workers through the office. That means workers in many offices are now more likely to touch surfaces contaminated by others. Popular public areas are sometimes more prone to spread germs than restrooms, health researchers say. Inspired by tech startups and co-working companies, more offices feature snack bars, beer kegs and other spots where workers can mingle and spread germs.
Using less space per worker has allowed companies to reduce their rent bills, and the spread of disease was a minor concern when the biggest danger was the seasonal flu. Now that the more dangerous coronavirus is spreading, some real-estate and health experts suggest changes are in order.
“We spend more time in offices than any generation in history,” said Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. “That’s really why it becomes more important to think about the spread of disease and how we can design buildings better.”
Some U.S. companies are already shuttering offices and sending workers home to prevent the coronavirus from spreading among their workers. Others are distributing disinfecting wipes and cutting down on travel and meetings.
The danger might be lower if offices were designed differently.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
half-height cubicles are THE BEST!
I worked in one office for a year- it had full-height cubicles- You felt like you were stuck in a box all day.
They redecorated to half-height cubicles- I didn’t realize how many people actually worked on the floor! And people talked and interacted 1000 times as much.
I would never work in an office like that again (with the full height)
More hysteria fuel from MSM.
I'm gonna tell my boss I have a cough (I do) and need to work remotely from home this month. 😆
Rumor is they are sending us home to work from there.
I don't know how they came up with this number. 195 ft would be a huge office. A 12 ft x 12 ft room is only 144 sq ft. Most modular cubicles are 8 ft x 8 ft at best. That's 64 sq feet.
They must be using Brian Williams math.
I have seasonal allergies every year in March and have been having problems for the last two weeks. Two days ago I got the usual sore throat. When that was better I got bronchitis. It’s an every year thing for me. The first two weeks I was sneezing, eyes watered, a cough developed, and then the sore throat. No fever at all. I almost always have to go to the urgent care to get a steroid inhaler because my asthma inhaler won’t help the bronchitis much. I’m going to try to tough it out this year and hopefully I won’t have to go because with my symptoms I would get tested even though there are no cases of Covid-19 near my county. This whole thing sucks.
I have the exact opposite opinion from yours. I like my reasonably spacious, full height, semi-private cubicle. I don’t want to be chatting with others in usually pretend friendships that end at the office door.
I hated the move to cubicles in the 90s, they were a disaster for companies. Some in recent years have realized the mistake and have begun switching back to offices. Maybe this will help that transition.
Having separate offices doesn’t matter if the Windows can’t open and all the air is recirculated by the ac system, or if people share toilets.
With the former, you are also counting space taken up by hallways, lobby, restrooms, stairwells, breakrooms, etc.
..and that's my problem with these stupid open floor plans.
People are always socializing, gossiping, talking, using speaker phones, etc. It's much more difficult to concentrate on my work.
I think they are factoring in the entire size of the building divided by the number of employees assigned there.
I was office bound for three decades and hit the road about 3 years ago. I’m in my home office now but heading out soon.
I had to go to the actual office on Monday. I hated it.
I like your attitude. I’m friendly with most of my colleagues, but at the same time, only count one or two as friends. I’ve only interacted with a couple of them outside of work or related activities.
True fact: Fulton County (Atlanta) has shut their schools down til further notice. I thought it was a joke but hubby says no.
I think what they are doing is taking total office space and dividing by employees to get density. This means that you are getting credited with a little of the lobby, meeting rooms, hallways, bathrooms, kitchens, elevators, etc.
Perhaps they are including the walkways, which are not walled out in an open plan?
I agree with you. The last few tears of working was spent is open, collaborative work areas where concentration on an issue was almost impossible. Someone on the other end of the building would sneeze and you would hear it. Worse, you would hear everyone say “Bless You”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.